


Like the Purest Gold

by foossoaffoof



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Erwin's the pharaoh, Jean and Eren are twins, Levi and Marco are cousins, M/M, Marco's a prince, They all live in Egypt, kenny's a douche
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-05 03:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5359103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foossoaffoof/pseuds/foossoaffoof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jean and Eren visit the city of Cairo, they have an unexpected encounter with Egypt's prince. Marco, knowing who the twins work for, feels overprotective of them and invites them to live in the palace with him. Who's to say what will happen when you live with a handsome, freckled prince and what dangers will await them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The morning sun streamed in through the cracks of the white curtains, spilling onto Jean’s face as he slept. He groaned and threw an arm over his eyes before rolling over away from the sunlight.

“Jean!” A female voice called from the other room. “It’s time to wake up!”

“Yeah, Sleeping Beauty!” A male voice teased. Jean opened his eyes at that comment and stared at the ceiling.

“Go fuck yourself with Pharaoh's staff, Eren!” Jean replied.

“But isn’t your ass bigger?” Came Eren’s snarky reply. Jean sprung out of his bed and pulled aside the curtain separating the sleeping quarters from the living space.

“You’d better wish you had nine lives like your shitty cat, Eren,” Jean growled. His light colored hair was mussed from sleep, the darker undercut shaved fresh yesterday still retained its shape. His long face seemed even longer having just woken up, and his tan chest expanded with every breath he took.

Eren’s green eyes widened as he took in Jean’s state, messy hair, barely tied tunic, no jewelry. Then he erupted in laughter, throwing his head back at his twin brother. Eren’s shaggy brown hair swished with every move he made, skin a darker shade of tan than his brother’s.

Jean eyed his brother before a grin made it’s way onto his face. Soon after, Jean found himself rolling in laughter with his twin. A woman stepped into the small house and paused on her way to the kitchen to watch the boys laughing as they laid on the floor.

“Boys,” she rolled her eyes and continued on her way to the roof to hang the laundry.

“Mikasa!” Jean called. “Where’s breakfast?” He had found a way to settle down, which wasn’t easy after his stomach had let out a loud rumble sound.

“Where do you think?” Mikasa asked, she pointed to the dining room table to where a small slice of bread and a chunk of cheese with fruit sat. She flipped her long black braid over her shoulder and continued to carry a basket of clothes up to the roof.

“Thanks, Kasa!” Jean called, running over to the table, pausing only to properly tie the waistband of his white tunic.

“What should we do today?” Eren asked his twin, leaning over his shoulder to grab a grape.

“Dunno, what do you wanna do?” Jean shrugged, talking around the bread in his mouth.

“We should go visit Armin,” Eren said. “We haven’t seen him in weeks!”

“Sure,” Jean said, stuffing fruit into his mouth. “I need to get ready first, though.”

“You always take forever!” Eren complained, resting his head on Jean’s shoulder.

“That’s because I sleep more,” Jean smiled. “You should do the same.”

“I would,” Eren whispered. “But Mikasa keeps waking me up at the crack of dawn, and it’s really hard to fall back asleep when she makes noise in the kitchen!”

“You are such a light sleeper,” Jean chuckled. “We should kick her out.”

“But Jean,” Eren wrapped his arms around Jean’s neck. “Just think, having a girl around is better because she makes us food and does all the chores for us!”

“You talking about me?” Mikasa had returned and stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. She eyed Eren suspiciously.

“No,” Jean said. “We were just talking about when we get married some day, how our wives will gladly do work for us during the day as long as we make them scream during the night.” Eren snickered into Jean’s shoulder.

Mikasa gave one more suspicious look at the twins before walking back through the doorway. As soon as she was out of earshot, Jean and Eren let out sighs of relief.

“That was close,” Eren said.

“Too close,” Jean said. “Remember last time she got angry at me? I couldn’t walk for two whole weeks!” Eren chuckled and pressed a light kiss to Jean’s shoulder.

“That was not fun at all,” Eren smiled. “How about I go get your jewelry while you wash up?”

“Thanks, Eren,” Jean reached up and patted his twin on the cheek. “You’re the best.”

“And I try so hard!” Eren joked, releasing his hold on Jean to retrieve the jewelry. Jean and Eren wore the same jewelry, wrist bands, a necklace and earrings. The three siblings were part of the upper middle class and could afford quality gold jewelry.

Jean washed his face and laced up his sandals. When Eren handed him his jewelry, he slipped them on quickly and the twins took off.

“Bye Kasa!” The boys called.

The early morning sun warmed the teens’ faces as they made their way down the road and into town. The town of Cairo during this part of the day was always busy, people walking up and down the streets, buying daily necessities from venders. Mothers hanging up the laundry on the roof, white sheets flittering in the wind, and little children playing in the streets, chasing animals with huge grins on their faces.

“Race you?” Eren smirked at Jean. The taller twin smirked back at his brother.

“You’re on!”  
\--  
The two twins raced through crowds of people, feet pounding on the dirt roads, hearts racing in their chests. The wind flying in their hair, adrenaline fully rushing through each teen’s body. Jean leaped swiftly over three large baskets of apples and pears, ignoring the threats of the venders. Eren ducked under two men carrying a large wooden pole, their kill dangling from its tied legs.

Jean noticed how Eren managed to get ahead of him and wrapped his arms around his waist, tackling him to the ground.

“Gotchya!” Jean called.

“Waa!” Eren cried as he hit the ground on top of his brother. The twins giggled as they continued wrestling in the dirt.

“Well, whaddya know?” A familiar voice broke the twins from their wrestling match. They froze and looked up. A small man with short blonde hair stood over them, sky blue eyes full of knowledge and mischief at the same time. “Two fuckwads dueling it out in the middle of the street. Very mature, guys. What are you, seven?”

“Nineteen, thank you!” Jean narrowed his eyes at the smaller man and crossed his arms. “If anybody was going to be seven, it’d be you, Armin.” Eren chuckled with his brother as they moved to stand.

“With comments like those, people would have thought you to be a newborn babe,” Armin teased, placing his hands on his hips, smug look on his face.

“Guys,” Eren said. “Jean’s three and Armin’s seven. So can we go inside now? I’m hot and sweaty!”

“Alright,” Armin smiled. “So what brought you two to the city?”

“We were bored,” Jean said, following the small blonde into the large house.

“Eren! Jean!” A bubbly redhead bounced up to the twins, grasping both in a gut clenching hug. “I haven’t seen you in months!”

“We’ve been busy,” Eren whispered, not able to breathe from the woman’s tight grasp.

“Field work is exhausting,” Jean whispered.

“Sasha, let them go,” Armin sighed, plopping onto a light blue cushion. Armin’s housemate quickly let go and stepped back.

“You’ve both gotten taller,” Sasha remarked. “Come in and make yourself comfortable!”

“How’s everyone?” Eren asked, sitting on a dark green cushion with Jean.

“Everyone’s great,” Armin smiled. Six merchants lived in the extremely large house, including the small blonde and bubbly redhead. “Bertholt and Reiner are on their way to Greece, and Annie just got back from Rome.”

“Wow,” Eren sighed. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like to see the world.”

“Marry someone rich,” Jean teased. “Then maybe he can take you everywhere!” Jean smiled and clasped his hands to his chest and sighed.

“Yeah right,” Eren playfully shoved Jean’s shoulder. “I’m about as gay as you are.”

“But I’m not gay,” Jean raised a brow at his twin.

“Exactly,” Eren smiled.

“Oh,” Jean said, realization hitting him. Armin and Sasha chuckled at the playfulness of their childhood friends.

“If you two are on the prowl for good looking women,” Armin said, gaining the twins’ attention. “The prince’s cousin is throwing a party tonight.”

“A party?” Eren asked.

“Are we invited? Will there be wine? And what do we wear?” Jean ticked his questions off on his fingers.

“Yes,” Armin said. “You two can come as my guests, there will be wine, and wear what you’ve got-just cleaner.”

“Perfect!” Jean smirked at Eren, who smirked back.  
\--  
As the twins made their way through the city streets on their way back to their house, a loud trumpet sounded. Jean and Eren were instantly pulled with a crowd of people to the main street.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know! Where are we going?” Eren replied, shouting over the excited, noisy crowd.

“I have no idea!” Jean yelled back. Suddenly, the two teens were pulled low to the ground, bowing to an empty space in the road.

“Who’s that?” Eren nudged Jean in the side. Jean looked up to see a chariot rolling into the street.

“The Pharaoh!” Jean whispered back, eyes widening in realization. “And the prince!”

“What are they doing here?” Eren whispered.

“Sometimes they come to check on the progress of the people,” a woman to their right answered. “Ever since the famine a couple years ago, King Erwin rides out to check up on us, to see if we’re healthy.”

“That’s nice of him,” Eren said.

“Yeah,” the woman smiled. “He always makes sure we have enough to eat and drink. And Prince Marco is such an angel, one time he even offered his own sandals to a man who didn’t have any.”

“Wow,” Jean whispered, looking up to see the handsome faces of the king and prince. King Erwin had short blonde hair, as gold as the sun, while his son had dark hair, as black as the night. Erwin’s eyes were as blue as the sky during the day, skin tan from spending days outside in the heat.  
Prince Marco’s skin was darker than his father’s, freckles dusting his nose, shoulders, and forearms. He wore a simple white tunic, like Eren and Jean wore, but his jewelry was much more extravagant. Gold bands wrapped around his wrists and shoulders, thick necklaces draped across his bare chest. Small gold earrings littered his ears, and gold rings were on his fingers.

“He’s so hot,” Jean found himself staring. Eren sideways glanced at Jean, raising a brow. “I mean, it must be so hot out here! Especially with the sun, and its noon!” Jean smiled at his twin.

“Nice cover,” Eren smirked, nudging his twin in the side. Jean narrowed his eyes and nudged him back.

“You’re jealous I said it first, aren’t you?” Jean asked Eren.

“I am not!” Eren yelled.

“Are too!” Jean yelled back. No one knew who lunged first, but it happened, and both twins were on the ground, dueling it out yet again that morning.

“What’s going on here?” A voice boomed. The deep, rich voice of King Erwin. Both teens froze and looked up into the looming face to the king.

“Sorry sir,” Eren and Jean quickly sprang off each other and bowed.

“What was the point of this fight?” Erwin asked.

“We’re twin brothers, sir,” Jean said. “Aren’t we allowed to fight without reason?” The king laughed. It was deep, soothing, and almost melodical. Eren and Jean exchanged glances, not ready to say the real reason they were fighting.

“Of course,” Erwin said, smile brightening up his face. “What are your names?”

“I’m Eren,” the brunette said. “And this is Jean.” The twins stood up from their position on the ground.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Erwin said, he then turned and motioned for his son to walk over to them. “I’d like you to meet my son, Marco.”

Jean looked up into the dark chocolatey eyes of Marco and froze as he smiled. That woman was right, the prince of Egypt was an angel.

“Hi,” Marco said, voice cheerful and happy. “It’s nice to meet you!”


	2. Chapter 2

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Eren smiled, holding out his arm to shake with Marco’s. “I’m Eren.”

“I’m Dingbat’s twin brother, Jean,” Jean smirked at the brunette. Marco chuckled.

“I’ll be back, I’m going to go check on those people over there,” Erwin smiled and walked away, leaving the teens to their own devices.

“So, you from the city?” Marco asked.

“Nah, we’re from the country,” Eren said. “Farm boys through and through.”

“Farm boys?” Marco asked.

“Yup,” Jean nodded. “We work on our sister’s father’s plantation farming grain.” He explained. Marco nodded and smiled.

“I’ve always wanted to see a farm,” he quietly admitted, glancing warily at his father. “But Father rarely lets me even come to the city.”

“But hey,” Jean shrugged. “As soon as you become king, you can go wherever you want!” Marco’s eyes lit up. “But we can totally relate, we’ve never been anywhere but here and   
there.”

“That’s true, never thought of that before,” Marco said, nodding slowly.

“Plus, now that we’ve become friends and everything,” Eren smirked. “You can totally take us with you!”

“Perfect plan!” Jean snickered. “Just think, the king taking a couple of farm boys to Greece!” He playfully sacked Eren on the shoulder.

“Why not?” Marco asked. Both boys froze and turned to look at Marco.

“Well,” Eren said. “For one, we’re farm boys, we’ve got to work all day, everyday. Two, if you did that for us, you’d have to do it for everyone, as not to show favoritism.”

“In fact, we’d probably be working today even,” Jean said. “If Ackerman’s assistant hadn’t stepped in and ordered a day off for us.” Jean crossed his arms at the mention of their boss, Kenny Ackerman. He owned the fields where Jean and Eren worked, rarely giving his workers time off.

“Wait, did you say ‘Ackerman’?” Marco asked, suddenly becoming pale. “As in Kenny Ackerman?”

“Yeah?” Eren said. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s my cousin’s uncle,” Marco said. “He’s bad news, you should quit his line of work soon.”

“Why?” Jean asked. “He gives us a house, work, and food. Not to mention clothes and jewelry.” He narrowed his eyes at Marco. “But tell us what is so bad about him.”

“A couple years ago, he was caught stealing gold from the royal treasury,” Marco said. “He promised the gold was to buy his own fields for farming grain. My father’s assistant was   
about to have him beheaded for stealing from the royal family.” He narrowed his eyes. “But my father insisted Ackerman was to keep his life, promising half of his grain to the king every season.”

“That makes so much more sense,” Eren’s eyes widened with realization.

“You are so dense,” Jean crossed his arms, glancing at his twin brother. Marco chuckled.

“You guys rhymed!” He smiled.

“I thought we were talking about how fucked up our boss was, not nursery rhymes,” Jean grumbled.

“We are,” Eren said, glancing at Jean. “And will be to the end of time!”

“Oh god!” Jean groaned. Marco laughed at the two brothers, creating a ripple effect in making Eren and Jean laugh too.

“So,” Marco said as soon as they had stopped to take a breath. “My cousin’s throwing a party tonight, I was planning on making an appearance. You wanna go with me?” Jean and   
Eren looked up into Marco’s brown eyes.

“Dude,” Jean said. “Was that even a question?”

“I mean seriously,” Eren smiled. “You know the answer to that.”

“Good,” Marco said, smiling mischiefly. “Because now I have a reason to spoil you.”

“Spoil us?” Eren asked.

“I do not want you working for that shitface Ackerman anymore,” Marco said, crossing his arms. “And I bet both of you would look even hotter than me with as many jewels as I   
have.” Eren and Jean instantly turned red.

“W-what?” Jean stuttered.

“How’s it going over here?” Erwin walked up to the trio of teens.

“Perfect,” Marco smiled innocently at his father. “I also want them to move in with me at the palace.”

“Alright,” Erwin smiled, turning his head to look at the two farm boys. “We’ll move them at once. Where do you live?”

“They live at Ackerman’s farm,” Marco grumbled. “I don’t want them there anymore.”

“I see,” Erwin nodded. “Well, let’s get to the palace, I’ll send servants to your house to notify your employer.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jean said, giving a small bow in sync with Eren, who also murmured his thanks. The twins followed Marco to his chariot and climbed aboard the fancy vehicle.   
Gold trimmings lined the sides, birds and sunsets were etched into the wood.

“Wow,” Eren breathed, skimming a hand over the bird. “So fancy.”

“I know!” Jean leaned over the side to get a better look at the sunset. “It looks so real!” Marco giggled at the twins leaning over the side of the chariot.

“You guys ready to go?”

“Born ready,” Jean smirked, standing back up. Eren snickered and nudged his twin in the side.

“Now we don’t have to worry about marrying someone rich,” he whispered in his brother’s ear. Marco’s servant snapped the reigns, making the chariot jolt forwards. Jean and Eren instantly reached out to steady themselves against Marco’s outstretched hands.

“This is new,” Jean said to Eren. “Very new.”

“You’ve never been on a chariot before?” Marco asked.

“We never needed to before,” Eren replied. “We’ve always just walked to and from the city.” The horse pulled the chariot into the courtyard of the palace. Jean and Eren looked up in wonder at the large structure, large pillars and heavy drapes, murals painted on the sides, and soldiers in white uniforms stood at attention.

“Wow,” both twins said in unison as they stared up at the grand palace in all it’s glory.

“You live here?!” Jean exclaimed. “Holy fucking moly!”

“Dude, Jean, now we’re going to live here!” Eren smiled, tapping Jean on the shoulder.

“Aw fuck!” Jean exclaimed, making Marco blush at his foul language.

“Do you always swear?” Marco asked.

“Yes,” Jean smirked. “Do you always look cute when you blush?” He flirted shamelessly.

“Of course he does,” Eren smirked with Jean. “He’s a fucking freckled angel.” Marco looked innocently at the two teens smirking at him, asking himself what he just got into.

“We’ve arrived,” the servant stopped the carriage and Marco quickly hopped off, then turned to help Jean and Eren step down.

“Time for a tour?” Marco asked.

“Wow,” Jean said to Eren. “Not only do we get to move in with the prince, but we get a personal tour?”

“Hey, we must be special to get special treatment,” Eren nudged Jean teasingly in the side. Marco blushed yet again and led the twins inside the foyer.

Huge pillars supported the large roof, servants were rushing everywhere with linens and bowls of fruit. The marble tiles reflected the natural light coming in from the skylights, making it glimmer and gleam bright.

“What do you want to see first?” Marco spun around to walk backwards, talking to the twins behind him. “The throne room, the battle room…”

“Your room?” Jean smirked, teasing the freckled prince. Marco blushed.

“Y-yeah, I g-guess we could s-see my room f-first,” Marco stammered. Eren and Jean snickered at the stuttering prince.

“Do you know how to read?” Eren piped up after following Marco for a while in silence.

“Uh, yeah, actually,” Marco said, looking back at the twins. “I love to read and write, do you know how?”

“Nah,” Jean shrugged. “Never went to school, we don’t even really know how to fight. All we do is play-wrestle.” Marco nodded.

“I could probably teach you,” the prince said quietly. “How to fight.”

“Really?” Eren asked.

“What about reading and writing, can you teach that to us too?” Jean asked, growing more excited by the minute.

“Sure,” Marco scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not sure how great of a teacher I’ll be though, I could always get my old professors to teach you the way they taught me.”  
Marco rounded a corner and walked through a curtained doorway. The room was huge, with large pillars, a big balcony with a great view, and a large white bed stood in the middle. Couches were everywhere, and a large bathing chamber was to the right.

“This is my room!” Marco cheerfully smiled, allowing the twins to wander around.

“Holy shit!” Jean’s amber eyes widened in awe.

“Fuck, Marco,” Eren said. “This is twenty times bigger than our old house!”

“Where are we going to stay?” Jean asked. “If all the rooms are this big, I’m sharing with Eren. I don’t want to be lonely.” Marco’s heart melted at the last sentence Jean said.

“You guys can share,” Marco said. “I’ll put you in the room across from mine.” He led the twins to their new room, of equal size and proportion.

“Wow!” The twins marveled at their new room. Suddenly, a low growl echoed through the mostly empty room.

“Sorry,” Eren smiled. “We’re a little hungry.”

“We haven’t had anything to eat since this morning,” Jean added. “Do you know where we can get some fruit or bread?”

“Of course,” Marco said, walking over to the wall and ringing the little bell. A few moments later, a servant rushed into the room. “This is Master Eren and Master Jean, you are to   
attend them and get them anything they want. But for right now, they need food and new clothes.”

“Oh, can we have tunics with green sashes on them?!” Eren exclaimed.

“Ooh, yes!” Jean agreed. “Green is our favorite color!”

“Of course,” the servant backed out of the room and rushed to do their bidding.

“So now what do we do?” Eren asked the prince.

“We should start getting ready for the party,” Marco shrugged. “In which case, you two need a bath.”

“Oh no!” Jean’s eyes widened in realization. “We forgot to tell Armin we weren’t going with him.”

“I can send a messenger to his house,” Marco said. “As soon as we bathe, your friend will know what’s going on.”

“Thank you, Marco!” Eren playfully punched the freckled prince on his freckled shoulder.

“Now let’s bathe,” Marco led the way to the twin’s bath and called the servants to ready the waters.  
\--  
About an hour later, the twins were the cleanest they had ever been in their life, as well as the fullest. For once, they had enough food to eat, and enough water to drink. They had their jewelry buffed and polished, and their hair thoroughly washed. Their tunics were, as requested, white with green sashes tied around their waist.

“I love the green tunic!” Jean exclaimed, jumping up excitedly.

“I know!” Eren also jumped with his brother. Marco stepped into the room and peered around the corner to make sure the twins were done.

“Hey guys, liking the new you?” Marco asked, stepping out. His tunic was pure white, and his jewelry the same as before. He too had taken a bath and refreshed himself for the   
party.

“Yes!” Jean smiled at the prince.

“Definitely!” Eren looped his arm with Jean’s and smiled at Marco. “Thanks so much!”

“No problem,” Marco chuckled nervously. “So, shall we go?”

“Sure!” Jean smiled at the prince, looping his arm into Marco’s.

When the trio arrived at the party, loud music was playing, men and women were dancing, already drunk on too much wine. Marco grabbed two drinks off a nearby tray and handed one to each of his guests.

“So this is a party,” Eren said, smiling as he bobbed his head in time to the beat. Marco spotted his cousin off a ways chatting with an energetic redhead.

“Here,” Marco took each hand of the twins and began pulling them across the dance floor. “I’m going to introduce you to my cousin!”

“Okay,” Eren said, taking a sip from his drink.

“The one throwing this party?” Jean asked. Marco nodded.

“Levi!” Marco exclaimed, pulling the twins in view of the small male. “These are my personal guests, Jean and Eren.”

“I’m Levi,” Marco’s cousin stood from his seat on the couch. He wore a white tunic with a red sash, his jewelry was similar to Marco’s but with a smaller necklace, and his hair was dark black, blacker than Marco’s.

Eren and Jean smiled at the small man with the scowl on his face, then exchanged glances.

“You look very handsome,” Eren smirked at Levi. “Is it your hair?”

“Or your killer body?” Jean smirked. Levi froze, grey eyes darting to Marco for an explanation.

“They’re flirty,” Marco warned.

“I can tell,” Levi’s voice was deep, Eren and Jean instantly like it. “Shitty brats don’t know who they’re dealing with. I can play this game too.”

“Oh really?” Eren raised his brow in interest. “Prove it.” Levi pulled Eren to him and whispered in his ear. Eren instantly turned red as the words broke down his outer wall of confidence.

“The way you turn me on makes me want to fuck you until you scream and all of Egypt can hear you,” Levi had said. Eren yelped and pulled back.

“What’d he say?” Jean asked.

“Nothing worth repeating,” Eren said, hanging onto Jean’s arm, a little traumatized from the blunt and intimidating teen. Levi chuckled and sat back down.

I hope you enjoy the party,” Levi said.

“Levi!” The redhead whined.

“Oh, and this is my step-sister, Hanji,” Levi gestured to the redhead that instantly stood up and crushed all three teens into a hug.

“It’s so nice to meet all of you,” Hanji exclaimed.

“Hanji, you’ve already met me,” Marco complained. “Like, nineteen years ago, when I was born!”

“Oh, that’s right!” Hanji let go of the trio and smiled sheepishly.

“You’re only nineteen?” Jean asked Marco.

“Yep,” Marco nodded.

“You seem older,” Eren scrunched his eyebrows together, examining the prince. “Maybe like, twenty two?”

“I would have said twenty three,” Jean said.

“No, no, no,” Hanji shook her head. “I have to agree with Eren, twenty two seems about right for Marco.”

“Well that’s where I come in, because he definitely looks twenty three,” Levi said, appearing magically at Eren’s elbow, making him jump.

“Why are we arguing about my age,” Marco sighed. “I’m nineteen, and that’s that. Now let’s go party!”

“Can’t disagree with you on that!” Jean smiled, pulling the prince into the crowd. “I call Marco first!”

“Wait!” Eren cried. “Don’t leave me here with-” He froze and looked at Levi and Hanji.

“I’ll come rescue you in a bit, Eren!” Marco called, smiling reassuringly at the smaller twin, who stood nervously next to Levi.

As the two teens ran off to dance, Marco looked back at Jean.

“Well now I feel a bit bad for leaving Eren there with my cousin,” Marco said.

“Anyone who can make my brother blush deserves him,” Jean smiled. “He’ll thank me eventually.”

“What?” Marco asked.

“Yes, I’m hooking my brother up with Levi,” Jean shrugged. “Is that such a crime? He was saying just this morning that he wanted to marry a rich guy and travel the world. I’m   
basically handing it to him on a silver platter!” Marco’s jaw dropped open.

“Wow, I, uh…” Marco stuttered, speechless at his new friend. “That’s...nice?”

“Thanks, I’m glad you approve,” Jean rolled his eyes. “Let’s dance!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we also have a tumblr: foossoaffoof  
> look us up (since I don't know how to link it)


	3. Chapter 3

“So, uh,” Eren turned to Levi and Hanji. “What do you do around here for fun?”

“Throw parties,” Levi said.

“Well, I like to read,” Hanji smiled. Eren nodded, reminding himself to get Marco to teach him how to read. “And write, and sometimes I write my own stories!”

“Really?” Eren asked. “Maybe once I learn to read I can take a look at them!” He smiled at the redhead. Hanji’s brown eyes grew wide and she pulled Eren to her chest.

“You don’t know how to read?” Hanji asked. “You poor puppy, I’ll teach you!”

“You will?!” Eren grew excited as he pulled his head away from the white fabric of her dress. “That’d be awesome!”

“What else do you know how to do?” Levi asked. Hanji let go of Eren and the duo pulled the brunette to the couch.

“Well,” Eren said, scratching the back of his neck. “I grew up on a farm, so I know how to work the fields, but other than that, nothing much. I know how to flirt, if that counts?”

“You don’t know how to fight? Hold a blade?” Levi asked. Eren shook his head. Levi’s eyebrows knit together. “I’m taking responsibility for his training.”

“What?!” Eren exclaimed.

“Shut up, I’m a captain in King Erwin’s fucking guard,” Levi said, crossing his arms. “That should make me more than enough qualified to train you.”

“Wait, you’re a captain? But you’re my age!” Eren exclaimed.

“Well, how old are you?” Hanji asked, butting in.

“Nineteen,” Eren replied. Levi froze.

“That’s impossible,” Levi bluntly stated. “You’re fifteen.”

“Uh, no I’m not,” Eren narrowed his eyes at Levi. “Last time I checked, I was born nineteen years ago. Although, it may be because of my natural good looks? I heard some people   
say they make me look younger.” Eren smirked at Levi.

“You’re fifteen,” Levi said. “Because I’m nineteen, and I don’t look nearly as young as you.”

“That’s because you look like you’ve got a whole pyramid up your ass,” Eren scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Wanna run that by me again?” Levi glared daggers at Eren, but Eren shrugged them off, already used to the smaller man’s ways.

“Maybe two,” Eren smiled.

“Hey guys!” Marco called, pulling Jean behind him. “Sorry we left you like that, Eren. I hope everything went okay!”

“I’m taking him,” Levi said.

“What?!” Eren and Jean exclaimed.

“Are you sure?” Marco asked.

“Yes,” Levi nodded. Eren glared at Levi, green eyes full of hatred and fury.

“Levi’s going to train him and I’ll teach him how to read!” Hanji exclaimed, nearly falling off the couch from waving her arms too frantically.

“What?!” Jean exclaimed. “We were going to learn together!” He crossed his arms and pouted.

“We still can,” Eren said, glaring at Levi. “Right?”

“Sure,” Levi said, unable to refuse any request from the brunette. All he wanted to do was spoil the farmer boy, give him all kinds of jewels to make him pretty. Eren’s face lit up.

“Really? You’re not joking?” Eren asked, springing up from the couch to hug his brother.

“I’ll teach both of you how to read and write,” Hanji smirked. “It’ll be lots of fun, trust me.”  
\--  
Jean woke up to the sound of running water and a light breeze flowing through the room, making him shudder and cuddle closer to Eren. He opened his eyes, suddenly not knowing where he was.

“Eren,” Jean said, waking the smaller twin. “Where are we?”

“The palace,” Eren groaned, curling up even smaller into the sheets. “Remember? We met the prince and he invited us to live here.”

“Oh yeah,” Jean remembered dancing with Marco at the party the previous night, loving the way his smile showed through his warm brown eyes. Jean smiled and curled next to Eren, reveling in the warmth and softness of the bed.

“Are you guys awake?” Marco poked his head into the room.

“Yeah,” Eren groaned. “But we’re trying not to.” Marco chuckled and said something to a servant.

“I’m having the servants bring you some breakfast,” Marco said. “Be ready for your training in an hour and a half.”

“Training?” Jean asked, sitting up to look at the now fully present prince. Marco chuckled at Jean’s bed hair.

“Yeah, Levi agreed to train you both in combat skills and weaponry,” Marco said. “And he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Yes, sir,” Eren said, sitting up as the servants placed trays of food at the foot of their bed.

“I remember the training part,” Jean ran a hand through his hair. “I just thought he’d wait until we got used to life here.”

“He’s ruthless,” Eren grumbled.

“Just wait till you see me on the field,” a gruff voice came from behind Marco. The smaller teen stepped out and crossed his arms. “Eat your breakfast so we can begin.”

“Yes sir!” Jean and Eren quickly reached for their loaves of bread and fruit tarts. Once Levi was satisfied that the twins were eating enough, he left the room to prepare for the   
lesson.

“Hey Marco,” Jean called to the prince. “When did you say you were going to spoil us?” Marco blushed, fiddling with his left earring.

“I already have,” he said, pointing around the room. Piles of new, expensive clothes were draped across chairs. Jewelry boxes were stacked around the floor and dozens of new   
strappy sandals were scattered on the floor. “Make yourself at home.”

“Wow,” Eren said, eyes wide as he took in all the pretty green tunics. “You even remembered that green was our favorite color!”

“Fuck,” Jean jumped out of the bed, not even realizing his tunic wasn’t tied properly and picked up a green cloth. “It’s so soft! Eren, feel it!” He tossed the cloth to his brother, hitting the brunette in the face.

“Holy shit!” Eren cursed. He wrapped it around his shoulders as he continued chewing on his bread.

"Just remember to wear a simple cotton tunic for training, though," Marco said. "You don't want to ruin the nice fabrics."

"Fuck, no!" Jean smirked, he picked up a box and opened it, revealing twinkling gold earrings. "How many earrings did you give us?"

"Oh," Marco blushed. "I don't know, I just sorta went all out. You should get more piercings, that way you can put them somewhere."

"How many can we get?" Eren asked.

"As many as you want," Marco smiled.  
\--  
Jean diligently leaped out of the way, rolling off to the side. Today has been exactly four months since Marco took Eren and Jean in, and three months since Marco had left for Giza. Levi had been drilling the twins like crazy since, proving to Marco that he could have the two teens ready for combat in no time. Which is why, Jean is in the middle of a fight, with Levi himself.

Levi was fast, there’s no doubt about it. But Jean was smart, he used strategy while Levi used raw strength and speed. The two battled it out while Eren sat off to the side, studying his alphabet with Hanji, he would take his combat test the next day.

Jean smirked as he flipped backwards, easily dodging Levi’s next attack. Both twins’ agility, speed, and strength had increased dramatically in the four months since the beginning of their training.

Marco smiled as he stepped into the palace. He was so glad to finally be home! But first, he had to find Jean and Eren. He couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when they saw he was home two weeks early. He walked into the back courtyard to find Jean engaged in a battle with Levi.

Marco gasped as he saw Jean execute a perfect backflip and roll out of the way. Why did he seem so graceful all of a sudden? The first couple weeks of knowing Jean and Eren, and anyone would have guessed they were the clumsiest people in all of Egypt! It seems in the three months Marco was gone, Jean had become more aware of his surroundings.

“And you pass!” Levi smirked, pulling the taller teen in for a quick hug. “Congrats!”

“Thanks, man!” Jean chuckled. Marco snapped out of his reverie and noticed Eren jumping into Jean’s arms.

“Good job, Jean-bo!” Eren chuckled.

“And now it’s your turn,” Levi crossed his arms, looking pointedly at Eren.

“Whoa whoa whoa, wait!” Eren shook his head. “Didn’t we agree I would take my test tomorrow?”

“Yes,” Levi said.

“EREN!” Hanji screamed. “Get your ass back over here this instant! Jesus, I’m gone for two seconds and he’s already run away!” Eren, Jean, and Levi chuckled at the redhead   
screaming her head off.

“Guess I should go back to learning!” Eren placed a kiss on Levi’s cheek, then Jean’s before walking away. “I’m coming, Shitty Four Eyes! Hold your horses!”

Marco took in the scene before him and smiled. He stepped into the courtyard to be instantly noticed by Jean, who brightened up with a smile.

“Marco!” Jean exclaimed, running over to the prince and jumping into his arms. Jean wrapped his legs around Marco’s waist, clinging to the brunette for dear life. “You’re home early!”

“I thought I’d surprise you,” Marco smiled, burying his face into Jean’s neck.

“Did I hear Marco?” Eren screamed, bursting out of nowhere to latch himself on to Marco’s back. “I’m so glad you’re back!”

“Thanks, Eren,” Marco smiled even brighter, nose still buried in Jean’s neck.

As the twins reluctantly let go of the freckled prince, Levi smiled and hugged his cousin. Small arms wrapping around the narrow waist of the tallest teen in the room. Marco rested his chin on the top of Levi’s head, strong arms burying the small shoulders in a sea of freckles.

“Welcome back, cuz,” Levi said.

“Thanks, Levi,” Marco’s gaze softened.

“EREN FUCKING JAEGER!” Hanji screamed. “GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE THIS MINUTE!”

“CAN’T YOU SEE WE’RE HAVING A MOMENT?” Eren yelled back, looping his arm with Marco’s. “Crazy woman!” He muttered. Marco, Jean, and Levi burst into laughter at the pouting green eyed teen.  
\--  
“So, now that you’ve both passed your combat tests,” Levi held two bows and quivers. “Time for weaponry.”

“Alright!” Eren held out his hands eagerly, receiving a sleek light brown wooden bow with simple carvings etched in the side.

“Fuck yeah!” Jean was handed the other bow, a darker wood with similar simple carvings on the side.

Targets had been set up in the field next to the castle, Marco helped strap the green leather quivers to the twins’ backs as Levi explained the basics of shooting an arrow. On their first try, Jean hit the dead center of the target. Eren fumbles with the arrow and it skitters to the grass.

“Oh god,” Levi groaned, wiping a hand down his face. “We have work to do.”

“Since Jean seems good at archery, how about we have him move on to the next weapon?” Marco shrugged.

“Let’s test his archery skills first,” Levi said. Jean beamed, glad he was great at something.  
\--  
“Yes, Father?” Marco asked, standing in front of Erwin, who sat on his throne.

“How are Jean and Eren coming along in their training?” The blonde king asked.

“Very good, sir,” Marco smiled. “Jean is the best archer we’ve ever had, and Eren is one of the best swordsmen.”

“Good,” Erwin nodded and looked away.

“Is there something wrong?” Marco asked.

“There is something we must discuss in private,” Erwin stood. “Walk with me, son.”

“Of course,” Marco followed his father to the king’s private chambers.

“Marco,” Erwin said. “I’m getting sick. The time will come sooner for you to take the throne and become king. I needed to make sure you have strong friends to protect you.”

“What?” Marco was taken aback. “You’re getting sick? How serious?”

“Very serious,” Erwin took a deep breath. “I’ll be passing the crown on to you within a year. Jean and Eren are to join the military and become your body guards. I want the best   
security for you and your offspring.”

“Offspring?” Marco asked. “But, Father, I’m not married yet.”

“Yet, I plan to marry you to a nice woman from Memphis,” Erwin said. “The daughter of a merchant.”

“What?!” Marco exclaimed.

“But don’t worry,” Erwin smirked. “If you still love Jean, you can marry him too.” Marco instantly blushed, face a flaming red.

“I-I didn’t...say that I...did…?” Marco stuttered. Erwin chuckled and ruffled his son’s chocolaty hair.

“It’s alright,” Erwin said. “You can have multiple spouses if you wish. There’s no harm in that. But do know this, you will marry Historia.”

“Yes, father,” Marco smiled. “I’ll do as you wish.”

“Good,” Erwin kissed his son’s forehead and left the young man to consider all that was discussed.  
\--  
“Jean!” Eren complained. “I wanted those earrings!”

“I got them first!” Jean shot a look at his brother and slipped in the emerald earrings in one of his many piercings. “And besides, didn’t Levi give you diamonds?”

“Yeah, but those one’s match my eyes,” Eren pouted and crossed his arms. Jean sighed and pulled one out.

“How about we share?” Jean handed the small gem to Eren, who excitedly placed it in his ear.

“Ooh, thanks!” Eren smiled and wrapped his arms around his brother’s waist. Both men had dressed in their nice green silk tunics and their new sandals. Jewelry was the last   
addition to their outfits, nicely dressed for the party. “Here, you can have a diamond too.”

“Thanks,” Jean took the earring and placed it in the empty hole in his ear.

“Hey, guys,” Marco entered the room wearing his usual white tunic and gold jewelry. “Ready to go?” His eyes studied the two tan figures as he gave a small smile.

“Yes!” Eren exclaimed.

“Fuck yes,” Jean smirked, running a hand through his hair, making it stand on end, and incredibly sexy.

"Then let's go!" Eren gave an excited squeal and pulled Jean and Marco out of the room.

As the trio walked into the party, loud music blared and people danced on the dance floor. The twins, used to parties by now, walked over to where Levi sat on the couches with Hanji.

"Hey," Levi waved.

"Hey!" Eren slouched on the couch next to the smaller man. Jean and Marco made themselves comfortable on the other couch, relaxing into the soft cushions.

Jean smiled as he watched Levi and Eren talk in quiet murmurs, they had become close friends in the year the twins lived at the palace. He looked over at Marco, who was deep in thought, fiddling with the hem of his tunic.

"Hey," Jean nudged Marco in the ribs. Marco jumped with a startled gasp.

"What?" Marco asked.

"You okay?" Jean cocked his head to the side, something he'd picked up from his brother. "You seem kinda sad."

"I'm okay," Marco smiled. Jean narrowed his eyes. "I promise."

"You know, I can tell when you're lying," Jean said. "The tips of your ears turn pink." He pinched Marco's ear as he spoke, making the prince blush even deeper.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Marco looked away. "It's a personal issue."

“Is it about your father?” Jean asked. Marco’s eyes widened as he clamped a hand on Jean’s mouth.

“Shh!” Marco shushed his friend. “How did you know about that?” He whispered. He looked around, still finding Levi and Eren engaged in a conversation before pulling Jean   
outside.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Jean stumbled after the prince into the night.

“What do you know?” Marco placed his hands on his hips.

“Your father is sick and will hand the throne down to you,” Jean crossed his arms. “You have to marry a woman from Memphis, and Eren and I have to become your body guards.   
You know, your father should choose the rooms to have private conversations more carefully.”

“You were there?” Marco asked in disbelief. Jean nodded. “But those were my father’s private chambers, how did you get in?”

“He asked me to be there,” Jean shrugged. “Didn’t know exactly what was going on until I heard your conversation.” Marco sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it stick   
up in every direction.

“You have to promise to keep this a secret,” Marco glanced at Jean. “Alright? No one needs to know about my father’s condition before he decides to make it public.”

“Fine,” Jean smirked. “I promise. On one condition.” He held up one finger.

“What?” Marco nervously bit his lip.

“I get to ask one question and you answer it truthfully,” Jean said, looking pointedly into Marco’s eyes.

“Oh, okay,” Marco was glad it was dark so Jean couldn’t see his blush.

“What did your father mean when he said you could marry me?” Jean smirked, crossing his arms. He loved the look of pure horror on his friend’s face, biting his lip to keep his laughter at bay.

“Oh...uh...I-”

“There you are!” Eren’s voice came from behind Jean. “I was wondering where you guys were! Hanji’s getting bored and wants us to go back to play games with her. You coming?”

“Sure!” Marco smiled, grateful for the distraction. Then shot a glare in Jean’s direction as the prince walked past the twins. Jean’s eyes widened as he looked over at his brother.

“What was that about?” Eren asked, confusion in his eyes.

“Nothing,” Jean said, nonchalantly, brushing past his brother to follow after Marco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we have a tumblr: foossoaffoof  
> look us up (we also have fanart and haikyuu)


	4. Chapter 4

Marco opened his eyes as the sun streamed in through the curtains. He stretched his limbs, loving the cracks and pops in his joints. His hand met flesh as he stretched and the prince instantly coiled back.

A soft groan emitted from the sheets as the lump moved. Marco pulled the sheets back to find Jean curled up into a pillow.

"Jean?" Marco asked, shaking the tan shoulder. "Wake up!"

"No!" Jean groaned. "I don't wanna."

"What are you doing in my bed?" Marco asked. Jean opened an auburn eye and stared at the freckled figure in front of him.

"Good question," Jean said. "But I seem to recall you pulling me here after we heavily made out for an hour." Marco blushed.

"Wh-what?!" He exclaimed.

"Relax!" Jean chuckled. "I'm just kidding! I was too tired to go all the way over to my room, so I fell asleep here."

"Oh," Marco said, blushing like an idiot. He felt like a fool for believing his flirty friend. He should have known Jean would say something like this. "I see."

"You're cute when you blush," Jean smirked.

"Th-thanks..." Marco stammered. "I hate it when people see me blush, it's embarrassing!"

"It's okay," Jean smiled. "Egypt is going to have one cute Pharaoh."

"Thanks, Jean," Marco pouted and looked away, sitting up to ring the breakfast bell. "Want to eat breakfast together?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Eh..." Marco trailed off, not exactly sure what to say. He would have said yes, if he was daring enough.

"I accept," Jean smiled proudly.

"Okay," Marco smiled. The servants walked in with trays of food and set them at the foot of the bed. He picked up a grapefruit and began peeling it.

"So," Jean said once they were alone again. "What do you think about all this?"

"All what?" Marco leaned back against the headboard and popped a slice into his mouth.

"You becoming the next Pharaoh," Jean said. "You think you're ready?"

"I've been training my whole life to be Pharaoh," Marco sighed and rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm ready. Just not ready for my father to die, that's all."

"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you man," Jean smiled, placing a hand on Marco's shoulder.

"Thanks," Marco said.  
\--  
After the two ate breakfast, they decided to spend the day relaxing together. Marco had realized that he hadn't gotten to spend a day alone with Jean in a long time, so Jean was happy to oblige.

"So, what do you want to do?" Jean asked, smiling excitedly as he jumped out of the bed. "Play games, read books, go on an adventure?"

"How about we stay in the bed all day," Marco groaned, stretching his legs on the soft mattress. "I haven't done that in years."

"Stay in bed," Jean raised a brow. "All day?" Marco nodded and pulled a pillow into his arms, curling his torso around it.

"I want to be lazy," Marco said, looking up at Jean. The twin looked down into Marco's irresistible chocolaty brown eyes.

"Alright," Jean climbed back into the bed. "Now what?"

"We talk," Marco smiled. "Talk to me, babe." Jean smirked and rolled onto his side.  
\--  
Eren woke to a soft groan, finding Levi's body plastered against his. Levi looked up into Eren's green eyes and softly pressed a kiss against the twin's chin.

"Good morning," Eren smiled.

"Good morning," Levi said back. "Let's go shower, I'm covered in booze and sweat."

"And me," Eren smirked. Levi froze only to lean close and bite Eren's neck.

"If I wasn't, I'd be fucking pissed," Levi growled. Eren chuckled and lifted his sweaty boyfriend to the baths.

"Good," Eren whispered in the smaller man's ear. Levi hopped down from Eren's arms and dragged the young man into the water.

"I want to wash your back," Levi said. "I won't be satisfied until I do it myself!"

"Alright," Eren smiled, kissing Levi briefly on the lips. Levi grabbed the soap and turned Eren around.

"So, when do you think Jean and Marco will finally get together?" Levi asked.

"I have no idea, but it's beginning to get too painful to watch them," Eren said. "They are both so oblivious to the other's feelings it hurts!"

"We should set them up," Levi smirked, wrapping his arms around Eren's chest.

"We should," Eren said. "And no one knows them better than us!"  
\--  
"Hey!" Jean suddenly sat up. "I just realized you never told me the answer to my question last night!" Marco blushed and pulled the covers up to his chin.

"Do I have to tell you?"

"Yes," Jean narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Fine," Marco sat up, looking straight into the auburn eyes of the shorter man. "It's because I love you and I'd marry only you if I didn't need an heir."

Jean stared at Marco in shock. He blushed bright red and twisted the sheets in his hands. He couldn't ever imagine the man he too loved would return his feelings.

Jean pulled Marco in for a hug, unable to form actual words, but the comfort of Marco's warmth against his chest soothed Jean.

"Jean, say something please," Marco whispered, on the brink of tears.

"I love you too," Jean smiled, kissing Marco's fingers. Marco sighed and hugged his lover back.

The two men cuddled into the bed and promptly fell into a light doze, oblivious to the two men peering into the room.

"Are you fucking serious?" Levi growled. "The minute we decide to do something, they get together!"

"Shh! You'll wake them, babe," Eren ran a soothing hand through Levi's soft black locks.

"It just makes me so mad!" Levi pouted. Eren smiled and playfully bit Levi's protruding lip.

“How about we have some fun and forget about them for a while?” Eren smirked, kissing the pale neck before him.

“Fine,” Levi cupped Eren’s face. “You’re on top this time.”

As the men staggered away, Jean and Marco murmured to each other in low tones. A loud crashing sound made both men bolt up and on their feet in a matter of seconds. Jean   
found his bow and placed an arrow on the string, ready for complete action. Eren and Levi, who had still been lingering in the hall, burst into the room, swords ready.

Three men stood in the middle of the room, dressed in black from head to toe, the only skin showing was around their black beady eyes. Jean jumped in front of Marco, Eren and Levi moved to either side of the archer.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Jean spat, narrowing his eyes at the three men.

“I only need two things,” the middle one spoke. “You, and Eren.” The twins exchanged looks.

“What do you need us for?” Eren asked, fury mixed with confusion in his eyes.

“An experiment,” he held up his hands, showing the four that he had no weapons.

“Could you be any more specific?” Levi growled.

“Uh, no,” the man shook his head. “I promised my master I wouldn’t tell a soul.”

“Well,” Jean said, drawing his bow. “You’re not taking us without a fight.”

“Who’s your master?” Marco spoke quickly, not wanting this to end in blood shed.

“Ah,” the hooded figure clicked his tongue, “I knew you’d ask eventually. But no matter, he told me specifically to tell you his name. He goes by Kenny Ackerman.”

“Fuck,” Levi quietly cursed.

“Yes, that’s right,” he chuckled. “My master is your uncle, and their former employer.”

“You worked for him?” Levi shot a glance at Eren. “You never told me.”

“I-I thought you knew,” Eren blinked honestly at the shortest man in the room. “I honestly would have told you if I knew that you didn’t.”

“My brother doesn’t lie, Levi,” Jean said, eyes trained on the hooded man, bow still drawn and pointed directly at his heart.

“And neither will I,” the man said. “Come with me, and your precious lovers will not be harmed.” Jean dared a glance at Marco, who was visibly torn between letting his lover fight   
or be taken.

“I wouldn’t willingly go with you anywhere,” Jean spat, letting the arrow fly. The arrow hit the man’s shoulder, just above the heart. “Shit!” Jean cursed himself for missing in the   
heat of the moment.

Eren and Levi dashed towards the other two, while Marco rang the bell for the servants. The unarmed men had been taken down in a matter of seconds, almost too easy enough to   
make Jean suspicious. He stayed alert, even as the servants arrived to drag the three men down to the dungeon.

“Jean, you okay?” Marco lightly touched the small of Jean’s back, making him stiffen.

“I can’t help but feel that it was too easy to take them down,” Jean said. “I think that was only the beginning, there are more coming.”

“You sure?” Marco asked worriedly. He couldn’t bare the thought of a man after his beloved friend.

“The best course of action here, would be to strike them before they strike us again,” Jean narrowed his eyes. Marco was grateful yet again that Jean was known for being the   
clever twin.

“I agree,” Levi appeared at Marco’s elbow with Eren in tow. “I’ll lead it myself, cousin.”

“Jean,” Eren smirked. “We can finally pay Ackerman back for all those years of hard labor.” He placed a hand on Jean’s shoulder as the taller twin smiled.  
\--  
Kenny Ackerman sighed as he came to the realization that his three men wouldn’t be coming back. Of course the prince would have his lovers be trained in weaponry, and of course Jean with his fucking smarts would figure out to attack him first.

Although that wasn’t such a bad thing, he’d have the twins coming right at him and all he’d have to do next was capture them. That should be easy enough, he had the resources, the men, the weapons, and the advantage. However, he didn’t know how many men they were bringing with them and the procedure would have to be done quickly.

Kenny Ackerman smiled as the perfect plan came to mind.  
\--  
Jean, Eren, and Levi strapped their swords to their sides and their quivers to their backs. The chariots were down in the stables getting ready for use, and the four other soldiers were down in the barracks suiting up as well.

“Are you sure these people can be trusted?” Jean asked Levi with a quizzical look on his face.

“Of fucking course,” Levi crossed his arms. “I trained them myself as I did with you two. I trust them with my life.”

“Captain,” a small woman walked into the room. She wore a warrior’s dress and had a small lightweight sword at her hip. “We’re ready.”

“Alright, let’s move out,” Levi nodded.

The four soldiers stood on their chariots waiting for the command from their captain. Jean and Eren found their chariots and climbed up with Levi on their tail.

“Gunther, Eld,” Levi said, “You go on ahead and scout the area. Petra and Oluo are behind me and the twins.”

“Yes sir!” The four moved into formation without any doubts.

As the troupe neared the farm, Levi ordered the chariots to be hidden among the village and the rest of the journey to be carried out on foot. This time, Eren and Jean leading the way to draw out Ackerman.

Jean exchanged glances with Eren. “You okay?” the taller asked.

“Yeah,” Eren sighed. “Just a little scared of what might happen and what I might have to do.” Jean intertwined their fingers together.

“Me too,” he nodded.

The house stood less than a couple meters away, Jean could see Ackerman standing in the window, watching them. Jean motioned for Levi and the others to stay back and wait until the perfect moment.

“Well well well,” Kenny walked out of the house. “If it isn’t my favorite set of twins, and my favorite nephew I see came as well.”

“What do you want with us?” Eren growled, hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Simple,” Kenny smiled, “I only need two test subjects for a quick experiment.”

“What kind of experiment?” Jean narrowed his eyes.

“An immortality experiment,” Kenny whispered. “You see, I got this serum from some merchants, but they’re not sure if it works well or not. The only man who’s tried it hasn’t   
been seen in a couple years. I voted some of my men, but they needed some people who eat healthily.” Kenny pulled out a notebook full of notes.

“Is that a notebook?” A familiar voice asked. Out from behind Jean popped a certain redhead.

“Hanji?!” Eren and Jean exclaimed.

“HANJI YOU MOTHER FUCKER GET BACK HERE!!!” Levi yelled at the top of his lungs. Kenny used the distraction to grab both twins and throw them into the house, locking the door   
behind him.

“WAIT!” Hanji screamed. “I only wanted to read your science notes!”

“Kenny!” Levi demanded. “Bring them out here this moment or I will personally chop of your balls and feed them to the dogs!”

“Sorry, Levi,” Kenny chuckled from the other side of the wooden door. “I’ve got the upper hand now.” Eren and Jean exchanged fearful looks as their weapons were stripped off   
them and they were tied to wooden chairs. Kenny smiled as he turned back to the twins. “Let’s get started now, shall we?”  
\--  
Jean woke up with a start, head throbbing painfully as he lay on his bed in the palace. Wait-how did he get here? Did Levi and his team get him and Eren out and back to the safety of the palace? Was it all a dream and Jean had just woken up?

“Jean?” A worried voice interrupted his thoughts. Jean looked to the right of the bed to find Marco leaning over him, a worried expression on his face to match his tone. “How do you feel?”

“Thirsty,” Jean croaked, for some reason, his voice didn’t want to work. Marco nodded and held a cup of water up to his lips. “That’s better.”

“Do you feel any pain?” Marco scooped up Jean’s hand and clutched it tightly.

“My head..feels like it’s spinning,” Jean said.

“Try to get some rest,” Marco said. “The serum might have some effects your body won’t like.”

“The serum?” So it wasn’t a dream, it was real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> our tumblr: foossoaffoof  
> check us out


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter, sorry guys

“So what was this serum supposed to do?” Jean asked Hanji the next day. Hanji had taken Kenny’s notebook and was trying to create a reverse serum from whatever he’d injected into the twins.

“According to these notes,” Hanji said. “It’s supposed to give you extraordinary healing powers and supernatural strength.” She read through the notes again, making sure she didn’t leave anything out.

“Supernatural strength?” Levi asked, he was sitting on Eren’s lap, playing with the soft locks in front of him. “What does that entail?”

“The only human test subject they’ve tried it on was able to move large rocks without the help of horses or mules,” Hanji said, holding up the notebook to show a small picture of the man moving a rock ten times bigger than himself.

“We can do that?” Eren asked, being even more gentle with Levi with the fear in mind of crushing him.

“I’m guessing it’s entirely possible,” Hanji nodded. “We need to test you two, to see what you are capable of. It’ll be super exciting! I get to add more notes to a science project!” She excitedly clapped her hands.

“Oh boy, another test,” Jean grumbled, leaning his head in the palm of his hand. He wished Marco was there with him, but he had some princely duties to attend to.

“Yes, another test!” Hanji squealed excitedly. “Let’s go!”

As Hanji had her men set up the test, Levi, Jean, and Eren stood off to the side. Levi was fretting over Eren’s hair, trying to tame it with his fingers but to no avail.

“Alright!” Hanji said. “We’re all ready! Jean, why don’t you try first?” The redhead gestured to a large rock that some of her men had rolled in.

“Why not,” Jean shrugged and walked up to the rock. He placed both hands on the rock and gently pushed, not yet knowing his strength. The rock moved as if he were moving a toy ball, Jean looked back, wide-eyed at Hanji.

“Guess you have strength,” she muttered, jotting down some notes in the notebook. “Eren! Why don’t you give it a try?”

“Sure,” Eren nodded, stepping up to the rock. He also moved it a couple inches as he pushed.

“So both of you have strength?” Hanji nodded, muttering to herself. “Try picking up the rock.” Jean picked it up, then handed it to Eren, soon they began tossing it back and forth between each other.

“Careful!” Levi called out. “Don’t smash each other!”

“Relax, Levi!” Eren chuckled, catching the rock. He set it down carefully and walked over with Jean to Hanji.

“So what next, shitty glasses?” Levi asked.

“Now we have to test their healing abilities,” Hanji said. “So we’ll have to give them an injury and see how long until they heal. It shouldn’t be too bad.”

“You are not harming my Eren!” Levi latched himself onto Eren’s arm.

“Relax, Levi, I can heal, remember?”

“Well, we should be able to, at least,” Jean said, nodding his head. “I’ll go first.” Hanji pulled out her dagger and held up Jean’s arm. She made a cut on his arm, horizontally in the  
middle of his forearm. Jean winced in pain and cursed, then watched in awe as his cut began to stitch itself back together again, leaving a pink scar on his arm.

“Wowzers,” Eren exclaimed. He held out his arm so Hanji could do the same to him, then watched in awe as his arm repaired itself as well.

“So I guess we can heal,” Jean commented.

“And now we have two masochists on our hands,” Levi commented. “Great going, Kenny.” He rolled his eyes as Hanji furiously began writing in her notebook.

“Are we done?” Eren asked.

“For now,” Hanji muttered. Jean smiled, setting off to find his lover. He knew Levi and Eren were on his tail, but didn’t bother turning back to talk to them.

Jean found Marco in the throne room, sitting in on one of Erwin’s meetings with a foreign country. Jean skittered up to Marco and grabbed his hand.

“Hey,” Marco whispered.

“Hey,” Jean smiled, kissing the prince’s palm.

“How’d it go?”

“Just as Hanji predicted it,” Jean leaned by Marco’s ear and whispered the details of the tests to him, showing the light pink scar on his arm from the cut. Marco traced the scar, then kissed it. Jean sat on the arm of Marco’s chair and laced their fingers together, smiling down into the face full of freckles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: foossoaffoof  
> feel free to check us out


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the queen arrives...

King Erwin stepped down from the throne two months later, and Marco’s coronation was in a week. Marco’s fiance was to arrive at the palace any moment, and Jean was dreading it. He did not want to meet her at all.

Jean walked through the palace courtyard, on his way to find Marco in the throne room, when he found two women looking completely lost and out of place.

“Excuse me, ladies,” Jean walked up to them. The taller one stepped in front of the smaller one, holding an arm out as if to protect her from Jean. “Are you lost?”

“Yeah,” the taller one growled. Jean noticed her nose was sprinkled with freckles; she had short brown hair, tan skin, and dark brown eyes. “We’re trying to find Prince Marco.” Jean noticed the smaller girl wore fancier jewelry than the taller one. 

“Are you Historia?” Jean asked the blonde girl, standing behind the taller girl.

“Yes,” the blonde nodded, looking up into Jean’s eyes with her large blue innocent ones.

“I’m Jean,” the man said, “I’ll take you to Marco, follow me.”

“Thanks, Jean!” Historia said.

“No problem,” Jean smiled. “By the way,” he turned to the taller woman, “I never caught your name.”

“Ymir,” the woman said, crossing her arms. Jean suppressed a shudder as he led the women into the throne room, where Marco sat dealing with details about upcoming events.

“Hey, babe,” Marco greeted Jean with a kiss on the cheek, making Jean and Historia blush. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Jean smiled, “you’ll never guess who I bumped into.” He gestured to the two women behind him. “Ladies Historia and Ymir.”

“Welcome,” Marco smiled to the two women. “I’ll have some servants lead you to your rooms. I’d do it myself, but I’m a bit busy.”

“We understand,” Historia bowed, Ymir following suit.

“Thank you,” Marco smiled. He motioned for a servant to show them to their rooms and the two women were off, leaving Jean and Marco alone for the time being.

Jean was silent, not sure what he felt about the two women who’d moved into his home. The blonde girl seemed innocent and pure, just like Marco. However, that Ymir character, he wasn’t sure he liked her one bit. She always looked like she was going to murder someone, but then again, so did Jean. He wasn’t quite sure what her relationship was to Historia.

“Jean,” Marco said, cupping his lover’s face. “I love you.” Jean blushed and looked directly into the chocolate brown eyes of the freckled man in front of him.

“I love you too,” Jean said.

“Good,” Marco smiled, kissing Jean on the forehead. “Now there’s no reason to worry.” Marco pressed his lips against Jean’s warm ones. Jean wrapped his arms around Marco’s waist, pulling him closer.  
\--  
“I don’t like Jean,” Ymir crossed her arms.

“Ymir!” Historia dropped the linen sheet she was unpacking and turned around to face the taller woman.

“What? It’s true,” Ymir moved her hands to her waist. “He looks like an arrogant, stuck up prick who’s just trying to get Marco’s affections.”

“You don’t know anything about him,” Historia glared at the brunette. “Don’t make assumptions about people you don’t know!”

“If he so much as lays a finger on you, I’ll chop of his balls and feed them to the dogs,” Ymir growled, not paying attention to the smaller woman. “No one deserves my Historia!”

“But I’m going to get married to Marco,” Historia rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, but who did you marry first?” Ymir crossed her arms again. “Me! HA! Tell that to that horsed-face piece of shit!”

“Ymir, calm down,” Historia glared at her wife. “Go take a walk to something to cool your head.”

“Fine,” Ymir pouted. “But I’m not giving up on that sketchy son of a…” the taller woman continued muttering curses at Jean as she left the room. “I’m going to show him who’s boss around here, certainly not that two-toned bratty bitch!”

She found herself about to enter the courtyard when she saw Jean chatting with two other men, all three of them had swords strapped to their waist. Ymir quickly flattened herself against the wall, listening to her conversation.

“Jean, are you sure?” the shortest one asked.

“Oh I’m sure,” Jean said. “And Armin wrote a letter that I just received. He says Annie, Bertholt, and Reiner are missing. He hasn’t heard from them since Eren and I were captured by Ackerman.”

Ackerman? Ymir didn’t know who that was, she didn’t know who any of the men were. But she kept listening.

“Do you think he captured them too?” the third man asked. Ymir noticed his skin was the darkest and his height was just a bit shorter than Jean’s.

“It’s possible,” the shortest one crossed his arms. “My uncle was already gone by the time we broke into the house. He’s still alive and well, which is too alive for my standards.” Ymir stayed silent, watching and listening.

“Even if we don’t know his whereabouts we can still plan a form of attack,” Jean said. “How are the new recruits doing, Levi?”

“They’re doing well enough,” Levi, the shortest man, said. “But their training too slow, I need more trained officers to fasten up the pace.”

“Jean and I can help you,” the third man said. Ymir noticed Levi was about to protest when Jean held up a hand.

“And don’t say that Eren is not capable enough,” Jean said. “You trained both of us equally well. Eren can fend for himself, he’d make a great teacher.”

“Thanks, bro!” Ymir guessed the third man was Eren, who gave Jean a slap on the back.

“There are too many unknown factors,” Levi said. “We can’t bring down Ackerman without his whereabouts and trained forces. We’ll have to wait until the recruits are trained to plan any further.”

“Yes, sir,” Jean nodded.

“You can help train recruits starting tomorrow,” Levi said. He gave Eren and Jean a kiss on the cheek before leaving the two men in the courtyard. Ymir stayed and listened in on them.

“Have you heard anything about our sister?” Eren said. “We haven’t heard from her in a while as well.”

“Armin mentioned that she moved in with him,” Jean sighed. “I’d feel a whole lot better if she had just moved here with us when we came last year.”

“I agree,” Eren said. “But I feel like Marco has been too overly-generous with taking us in, I wouldn’t want to burden him with another farm hand in the palace.”

“Yeah,” Jean said. “Hopefully Mikasa will be okay with Armin for now. Maybe once everything gets settled here we can ask Marco to help out a little.”

“Or you can do it yourself, Mr. Almost-married-to-a-prince!” Eren joked, punching his brother in the shoulder.

“Screw you,” Jean blushed. “Marco hasn’t asked me to marry him yet, and I don’t think he will until after his coronation and marriage to Historia.”

“You should do it,” Eren smiled.

“I can’t just walk up to the prince, soon to be Pharaoh, and ask him to marry me!” Jean said, feeling scandalized.

“Why not? It worked with me and Levi,” Eren blushed. Jean froze.

“You-” Jean stuttered. “You’re getting married?! No way, man!” Jean pulled his brother in for a hug. “Well now I have to ask Marco. No way am I letting my younger twin tie the knot before I do!”

“Just watch me,” Eren smirked. Jean playfully tackled Eren to the ground.

Ymir couldn’t believe her ears, she watched for a moment as Jean and Eren play wrestled in the courtyard, making servants and maids giggle at the twins when they walked past. Marco had invited them to the palace only a year ago? They were farm boys before they came here? There were so many unanswered questions, especially those revolving around this shady Ackerman person. From the sound of him, he did not sound like a good man to deal with.

The tall brunette quickly found her way back to Historia’s room, where the small blonde had finished unpacking and was now munching on grapes while waiting for the baths to be drawn.

“You cooled off yet?” Historia asked, eyes narrowing on Ymir.

“Yeah,” Ymir said, sitting down on a couch, head still swimming with information she’d just heard. She felt like she wanted to help, somehow, but she wasn’t sure exactly what to do. Jean. She had to talk to Jean. Ymir fiddled with the hem of her skirt, contemplating on how to talk to the taller man.

“You okay?” Historia asked, setting down the grapes. “You don’t seem like your normal self.”

“I’m fine,” Ymir said. “I just need to have a chat with a certain two-toned son of a bitch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: foossoaffoof


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay, but i have a legit excuse...i was traveling home for the holdiay  
> thanks for reading  
> enjoy...

Jean stepped outside into the training fields. There were men and women everywhere, some were training in combat, others were training in weapons. Levi told Jean that he’d be helping with the archery, since he was the best archer to come through Levi’s training.

“Jean!” Ymir raced out of the palace, catching up to the brunette.

“Ymir?” Jean turned around, bewildered as to why the woman wanted to speak with him.

“Jean,” Ymir looked straight into the amber eyes of the man. “You’re the best archer here, right? Will you train me?” Jean’s eyes widened.

“Why?” Jean asked.

“I want to help fight this Ackerman guy,” Ymir said. “I want to be your apprentice. Will you train me?” Jean had never had one before and he wasn’t sure why Ymir suddenly had a change of heart to talk to him.

“Why not?” Jean smirked. Ymir looked up, smiled, and pumped her fist. “This could get interesting.”

“Thanks, man,” Ymir smiled confidently.

“Alright then, let’s get started,” Jean said. “I have to train the recruits now, but your training will start later.” Jean turned and walked to the archery course. Ymir followed after him, not realizing she was being watched by a pair of innocent blue eyes.

“What in the world is that woman doing?” Historia furrowed her brow as she watched out the balcony of her room as Ymir followed Jean around while he trained recruits. She was constantly at his side, helping him gather water and supplies as needed.

“Hey, Historia? You in here?” Marco’s voice reached the woman as she turned to greet the prince.

“Hey, Marco,” Historia smiled. “How are you today?”

“I’m feeling perfect!” Marco exclaimed. “I’m glad the coronation details are finished. Now I can move onto other things. What about you?”

“I’m good,” Historia turned back to watch her first spouse follow the archer around. “Although I’m trying to figure out why Ymir is following Jean around like a puppy.” Marco furrowed his brow and stepped across the balcony to look over the field.

“I see,” Marco watched as Jean helped a trainee fix his form, Ymir standing idly by waiting for Jean to instruct her to do something. “That is odd.” He remembered Ymir’s behavior to Jean yesterday, always scowling and glaring. What had changed between them to make them friends now? “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

“I guess you’re right,” Historia leaned her chin in the palm of her hand, resting her elbow on the railing.  
\--  
Eren looked all over for his twin, but couldn’t find him anywhere. He checked the throne room, where Marco was, he checked Marco’s room, he checked Marco’s private rooms, he even checked Marco’s bathing chambers. But apparently the man wasn’t with Marco anywhere.

“Marco, have you seen Jean?” Eren asked, stepping up to the throne, where Marco was seated reviewing paperwork.

“He’s with Ymir in the training fields,” Marco stated, not looking up from his work.

“Why is he with Ymir? I thought he hated her?” Eren asked, completely shocked.

“I don’t know,” Marco said. Eren scanned the prince’s features.

“You’re not...jealous, are you?” Eren smirked. Marco blushed and hid his face with the papers.

“NO!” he exclaimed.

“Yes you are!” Eren teased. “But don’t worry, Mar, Jean’s got eyes for only you and you know that!” Eren skipped down the stairs to find his twin exactly where Marco said he was.

“No way!” Ymir laughed. “Then what?”

“Then I grabbed Marco and quickly dragged him to the dance floor, leaving him there with Levi!” Jean exclaimed, laughing the whole time. “You should have seen the look of pure terror on his face, it was hilarious!”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure it was very funny,” Eren said, crossing his arms. Ymir and Jean froze and turned around, finding the twin standing there with an annoyed look on his face. 

“He started it.” Ymir instantly pointed to Jean.

“I did not!” Jean scoffed, crossing his arms, glaring at the woman.

“Anyway,” Eren said, rolling his eyes. “I got a letter from Armin.”

“What does it say?” Jean quickly jumped up from his place on the grass.

“He wants to talk to us, in person,” Eren said, making eye contact with Jean. “It’s about Mikasa, and it’s not good.”

“Guess it’s high time we made a trip to the city,” Jean placed his hands on his hips. “Send a reply saying that we’ll visit tomorrow.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t tell Marco or Levi.”

“Sure,” Eren nodded and walked back into the castle.

“Who’s Mikasa?” Ymir asked.

“Our step-sister,” Jean said. “I trust you to keep this information safe?”

“You can count on me, bro,” Ymir smirked, patting Jean on the shoulder.

Jean nodded and looked away, what in the world was Mikasa doing?  
\--  
Eren and Jean left the palace the next morning unnoticed by anyone. They quietly slipped along the palace gates and into the city of Cairo. They were gone by the time Marco and Levi woke up.

“Almost there,” Jean whispered to Eren, they casually walked down the busy streets of Cairo, easily blending in the crowd.

“Eren! Jean!” Armin and Sasha ran out of the house, followed by a shorter bald guy.

“Connie!” Jean and Eren hugged their merchant friend. “How’s it been, man?”

“Haven’t seen you in ages!” Eren playfully punched Connie’s shoulder, mindful of his strength.

“I arrived back here about a week ago,” Connie said, placing his hands on his hips.

“Guys, you can catch up later,” Armin said, pushing the men inside the house. “Right now we have to talk to Mikasa. She isn’t eating and she won’t talk to anyone.”

“What?” Eren asked.

“Where is she?” Jean demanded.

“Upstairs in the second room,” Sasha said, finding a slice of bread to munch on.

Eren and Jean exchanged looks before climbing the stairs to find their sister. They walked up to the door and knocked, waiting for an answer.

“Go away!” Mikasa exclaimed.

“Are you sure?” Jean asked.

“Yeah, we just got here!” Eren added.

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal a pale, sweaty Mikasa. She looked up at her brothers’ faces and let them in.

“Mikasa,” Eren started. “What’s wrong with you?” Jean swiftly shut the door behind him. “You’ve been worrying everyone in the house, Armin sent us a letter because he’s so worried!”

“Tell us what happened,” Jean said softly.

“I-I…” she trailed off. “I was attacked.”

“By who?” Eren asked.

“My father’s men,” Mikasa said. “He captured me and tried to inject me with something. But my body rejected whatever he gave me.”

“I’m going to kill that bastard,” Jean growled. “First us, now our sister, his own daughter?”

“What did he do to you?” Mikasa looked up.

“He probably injected us with the same serum he gave you,” Eren said. “But our bodies accepted it, while yours didn’t.”

“Eren,” Jean said. “We have to step up our game. We have to tell Levi and Marco.”

“I agree,” Eren said. “We have to get the recruits trained even faster. There’s no telling what Ackerman will do if we continue to leave him free.”

“Mikasa, you are moving into the palace with us,” Jean said, crossing his arms. “You are going to remain under constant guard.”

“What?” Mikasa asked. “But-”

“But nothing,” Eren interrupted. “It’s for the best.”

“Now, pack your things,” Jean said, pulling Eren towards the door. “We’ll be downstairs waiting.”  
\--  
“Hey, Levi,” Marco trotted up next to his small cousin. “Have you seen Jean or Eren anywhere?”

“I haven’t seen Eren since last night,” Levi glanced at the prince. “He was gone by the time I woke up.”

“Same with Jean,” Marco said. “I’ve searched the entire palace for either of them and I’ve had no luck.”

At that moment Historia, followed by Ymir, walked into the room.

“Hey guys!” Marco called to the two ladies. “Have you seen the twins anywhere?”

“Nope,” Historia said. Ymir shrugged and shook her head.

“Where in the world are they?” Marco asked, sinking his hands into his hair.

That afternoon, Marco stood on his balcony, overlooking the city of Cairo. He could see people crowded in the street, children playing with each other, and women hanging laundry on the roofs to dry. Then he noticed three figures entering the gate to the palace. Eren and Jean were back-from wherever they went.

“Who’s that woman?” Marco asked himself.

“Looks like my cousin,” a voice said. “Haven’t seen her in years.” Marco jumped when he found Levi at his elbow.

“Your cousin?” Marco asked.

“Mikasa,” Levi said. “Kenny’s daughter.”  
\--  
“So,” Marco crossed his arms, raising a brow at his lover. “Did you have a fun trip to the city?” Jean froze, looking up into the chocolate brown eyes of the prince, soon to be king.

“Uh...not really,” Jean scratched the back of his head. “We learned new things about Ackerman and what he’s up to.” Marco rolled his eyes at the fact that Jean changed the subject, but he went along with it.

“What happened?” Marco asked, relaxing on the couch in his room, next to Jean.

“He captured Mikasa, his own daughter, and injected her with the same serum that he gave to us,” Jean said. “However, her body is rejecting it and she’s in a weak state right now.”

“So you brought her here?” Marco asked.

“I..uh...thought you wouldn’t mind, cause...after all….she’s Levi’s cousin, and our sister…” Jean rambled. “But she’s not biologically related to us, and we don’t have the same name-”

“Jean,” Marco chuckled. “It’s okay. I just wish you had told me about this so I could have helped.”

“Oh,” Jean lowered his eyes to the ground. Marco wrapped an arm around Jean’s waist and pulled him close.

“She can stay here as long as she wants,” Marco said.

“Thank you,” Jean kissed Marco’s cheek.

“Now, don’t you have a certain freckled woman to train?” Marco asked. Jean looked up, surprised, into the freckled prince’s eyes. “Ymir told me.”

“Yeah,” Jean said. “I should probably go find her.” Marco smiled and kissed the two-toned man.

“Have fun!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHECK OUT OUR TUMBLRRRRRR  
> FOOSSOAFFOOF


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUYS! Sorry about the late update, but to be honest, I didn't even plan on updating regularly because I actually HAVE a life??? But that could be questionable.  
> But anyway, enjoy the newest chapterrrr.....

Marco stood on his balcony and watched as the sun set, painting the sky orange and pink. Yesterday, he’d been crowned as Pharaoh and never-ending duties had been thrown upon him.

Footsteps echoed through his empty chambers, signaling the arrival of a certain two-toned recently-promoted-captain of his army.

“Hey,” Jean smiled, wrapping his arms around Marco’s waist. He leaned his cheek on Marco’s shoulder, rubbing his fingers along the toned, tanned, and freckled abs of the king.

“Hey,” Marco smiled, leaning his head gently on Jean’s. “How’s Ymir’s training going?”

“Great,” Jean said. “She’s got a lot of potential to becoming a great archer.”

“Good, good,” Marco sighed. “And how’s Mikasa doing?”

“Turns out her body only rejected half of the serum, the healing part,” Jean closed his eyes. “She’s got strength like me and Eren. But other than that, she’s adjusting to life here great.” A stretch of silence passed between the two lovers before Jean spoke again. “Somehow I don’t think you wanted a status update.”

“What do you think I want, then?” Marco teased.

“I think you want me to love you,” Jean smirked, pressing a kiss to the freckled shoulder.

“I think you already do,” Marco said.

“I was thinking,” Jean said, letting go of Marco’s waist to stand in front of him. “That after your wedding to Historia, maybe we could have a wedding of our own.” Amber eyes met chocolate brown ones. Marco smiled, cheeks tinted pink.

“That sounds like a good idea,” the prince took both Jean’s hands in his and intertwined their fingers together.

“Glad you think so,” Jean chuckled, leaning in for a kiss. Marco gratefully returned it, then pulled Jean into his room.  
\--  
“There, almost finished,” Mikasa smiled as she and Ymir fitted the headdress on Historia’s head.

“Thank you both for helping,” Historia smiled.

“No problem,” Ymir nodded.

“It’s a pleasure to help,” Mikasa smiled respectfully at the smaller blonde.

“Mikasa,” Historia grabbed the raven’s hand. “I’m glad you were able to move to the palace so I could meet you! I’m sure we’ll be the best of friends!” Mikasa smiled, glad to be of help to the almost-queen of the Nile.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married!” Ymir sniffed. “My little Historia, all grown up!”

“What are you talking about? I’m already married, to you!” Historia rolled her eyes. Mikasa chuckled softly at the interaction between the two.

As soon as the preparations were done, the wedding commenced. By the end of the night, the Pharaoh of Egypt was a married man. Levi threw one of his famous parties to celebrate the newlyweds.

Jean, followed by Ymir, stepped into the party, instantly surrounded by dancing people and servants carrying trays of wine.

“Ymir,” Jean said.

“Yeah?” Ymir asked, scanning the party the way Jean had taught her.

“Don’t drink tonight,” Jean glanced at his apprentice.

“Yes, sir,” Ymir nodded, not bothering to question her captain’s orders.

The two archers made their way over to the lounge, where Eren, Levi, Marco, and Historia already were drinking and having fun.

“Hey,” Jean sat on the couch next to Marco.

“Hey, babe,” Marco kissed Jean on the cheek before twining their fingers together.

Jean glanced at his best friend, seeing how she was coping. Ymir had wrapped an arm around Historia and was listening to the small blonde ramble about something excitedly.  
\--  
“Babe, you seem distracted,” Marco pouted, lightly stroking the cheek of his lover.

“Yeah,” Jean sighed. “It’s about Ackerman. Every moment we spend not trying to track him down makes me even more uneasy.”

“He makes me uneasy as well,” Marco said. “But as of right now, he is the least of our problems.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it even crazier than it already was.

“I just wish I could catch that bastard son of a bitch,” Jean narrowed his eyes.

“You will,” Marco said, placing a hand on Jean’s shoulder. “It’ll take time.”

Jean smiled at Marco and kissed the prince’s cheek before he murmured his thanks and heading out of the throne room. Suddenly, a servant rushed to catch up to Jean.

“Master Jean, a letter for you!” the servant handed Jean the letter and bowed as he was dismissed.

“A letter,” Jean muttered.

“Jean,” Ymir entered the hallway, walking up to the two-toned man. “What are we going to do today?”

“Let me read my letter first,” Jean unfolded the paper, eyes instantly darting to the signature at the bottom of the page before he read the content of the letter. His eyes widened and he gasped. “Son of a bitch!”

“What? What is it?” Ymir asked. She took the letter from Jean’s hand and read it, disbelief shown on her face.

“Kenny Ackerman,” Jean smirked. “He’s headed right for us.”

“What’s your plan?” Ymir placed her hands on her hips, waiting for a brilliant plan to spring forth from her friend. Jean read the letter again as he formulated a quick plan.

“First, we tell Levi,” Jean nodded, turning to go find the shorter man, Ymir following close behind.

Jean and Ymir found Levi in his bathing chambers, soaking in the hot, sudsy water with Eren. Ymir turned around, to respect their modesty.

“Levi,” Jean said. “I’ve got something you’ll want to hear.” He held up his letter.

“What is it?” Levi grabbed a towel and climbed out of the bath. Jean held out the letter to Levi who quickly dried off as he read it, eyes widening as he digested the information. “You’re not shitting me!”

“Does it look like we are?” Ymir sassed, crossing her arms.

“What?” Eren leaned his elbows on the edge of the bath, looking up at Levi.

“My uncle is coming right for us,” Levi said.

“What?! Why?” Eren jumped out of the tub, grabbing the second towel.

“He’s gathered an army to take back his ‘science projects’, meaning me, Eren, and Mikasa,” Jean said. “He’s proclaiming war.”  
\--  
“Hey, Father,” Marco smiled as he sat down in the chair next to the bed where the sick former king lay resting.

“Hello, son,” Erwin smiled, holding out his hand. Marco grasped it firmly.

“Have you heard of Ackerman?” Marco asked. Erwin nodded.

“Yes,” Erwin’s blue eyes met Marco’s brown ones. “It’s time to go to war.” Marco sighed and let go of his father’s hand to run it through his hair.

“We haven’t gone to war since your grandfather was Pharaoh,” the freckled man said.

“Hey,” Erwin said, sitting up. “You’ve got four of the best trump cards plus four whole divisions of troops. It’s true that we don’t know how many troops that bastard has managed to find, but I’m sure they can’t beat Jean, Levi, Eren, and Ymir.” 

Marco sat in silence as he thought about his friends going to war without him. Until he could produce an heir, he was not allowed to go to war with them. There was nothing he could do except put total faith in them.

“You’re right,” Marco dropped his gaze to the marble floor.

“Of course I am,” Erwin smirked. Marco shot his father a glance before the two of them burst out laughing.

“Thanks, Father,” Marco nodded.  
\--  
“Levi!” Eren pouted, poking the smaller man’s cheek. “That was my candy!”

“Well, you weren’t eating it,” Levi shrugged. The two had been discussing the training of the recruits in the courtyard when Eren noticed the piece of hard candy in Levi’s mouth.

“That’s because I was saving it for later!” Eren exclaimed. “I was going to eat it on a special occasion! I can’t believe you stole the candy you gave to me three days ago.” He crossed his arms and looked away.

“Do you still want it?” Levi asked, taking the candy out of his mouth.

“EW!” Eren jumped back. “No, gross!” Levi snickered and popped the candy back into his mouth.

“I thought so,” the raven haired man smirked.

“No fair!” Eren pouted.

“Guys!” Jean ran out into the courtyard, out of breath, Ymir huffing behind him. “You’ll never believe-”

“Catch your breath first, horse-face!” Ymir smacked the back of Jean’s head. “You’re gonna explode!”

“I seriously doubt Jean will explode from talking when he’s out of breath,” Levi rolled his eyes.

“What can’t we believe, Jean?” Eren asked, placing his hands on his hips.

“Marco’s declaring war!”

“WHAT?!” Levi and Eren exclaimed.

“The recruits are hardly ready for combat,” Levi narrowed his eyes. “And the troops that are trained are too small in number.”

“He wants the recruits prepared for battle,” Ymir said. “He’s giving us three days.”

“Three days?” Eren raised a brow. “He’s literally asking for the impossible.”

“I know,” Jean said, “but I have a plan that could make it work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, don't forget to check out our TUMBLRRRR: foossoaffoof  
> I have no idea how to link it there, someone will have to teach meee~<3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait, guys.  
> Also, sorry not sorry this chapter is short.  
> Also, really sorry for the non-regular updates  
> Also, I should stop saying also.  
> Hope you enjoy TWO chapters today?  
> Maybe?

“Are you sure this plan is going to work?” Eren asked, looping his arm with his brother’s.

“It’s foolproof,” Jean said, scratching his head and messing up his sandy hair in the process. “It has to work.”

“But it’s so...simple,” Levi said. “You think he’ll fall for it?”

“If I know Kenny, he’ll be expecting some crazy, elaborate plan that involves too many variables,” Jean said. “There’s no way he can counter such a simple plan so easily.”

“Alright,” Ymir said. “If you think it’ll work, then it’s got to. Should we move out?” Levi looked up at Jean, who looked straight into the dark blue eyes and nodded.

“Okay, move out people!” Levi called, nodding to Eren, who rang the emergency bell calling all troops to suit up.  
\--  
“And that’s the plan!” Jean finished, proudly placing his hands on his hips.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Mikasa narrowed her eyes at her brother. “There is no way I will ever face him again.”

“I-”

“No. I’m not ‘pretending to turn myself in’ just to draw out Kenny,” Mikasa crossed her arms. “I am not bait, and neither are you.”

“But Kasa!” Eren whined. “It can work! I know it will.”

“Alright, alright,” Mikasa said, raising her hands as if it would calm herself down. “Explain the plan to me again, in detail.”

“You, me, Eren, and Levi walk out to meet Kenny,” Jean said. “Pretend to turn ourselves in, say that he can have ‘his precious science experiments’ back, then Ymir kills him, and the troops hold his troops hostage.”

“That was not detailed at all,” Mikasa said.

“Come on, Kasa,” Jean said. “It won’t work without all three of us!”

“You can try, right?” Mikasa shrugged, giving a small grin to the twins. Jean and Eren deadpanned, staring at her like her jokes weren’t funny. “I am not going.”

“Is it because you don’t want to see your father die? Because I totally understand,” Eren said. “If you ever want to talk about it, I live just around the hall.”

“Eren, you’re not helping,” Jean said.

“I thought maybe it would lighten the mood,” Eren shrugged. Then he and his twin looked at Mikasa, pouts ready for use.

“Don’t make us pout, Mikasa,” Jean warned.

“We will literally get down on our knees and beg if we have to,” Eren said, Jean nodding his agreement.

“Alright! I’ll do it,” Mikasa exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Yes!” Eren jumped in the air while Jean pumped his fists.

“Alright, let’s go!” Jean said, ushering his brother and sister out the door.

The siblings quickly made their way down to the foyer of the palace, where Levi was debriefing the squad leaders about the current plan.

“Ready?” Jean asked the short raven. Levi nodded.

“Set your troops into position,” Levi turned to Gunther and Eld, who nodded in return.  
\--  
Kenny chuckled as he studied the map in front of him. Who knew he’d be waging war against the Pharaoh of Egypt? With his numbers, he might just win. However, Jean and Eren would pose as a real problem; and his little nephew as well. That little brat turned out to be such a talented fighter with instincts as sharp as a razor.

“Sir?”

Kenny looked up from the map to find the captain of his army.

“Welcome,” Kenny grinned.

“What are your orders?”

“It’s time,” the old man smirked.

“Yes, sir.” The captain exited the tent. Kenny could hear him shout orders to the troops to pack it up.

Soon, he’d be on his way to his children. Wouldn’t they just LOVE to see him?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND...the SECOND chapter for today  
> pls enjoy, i had the most terrible writers block for soo long

Jean, Eren, Mikasa, and Levi approached Kenny’s troops, no weapons, no bows and arrows, nothing. Mikasa tried to work on her best glare; Jean tried his best to re-convince himself that his plan would indeed work; Levi tried not to think about how his precious Eren could be taken away, or worse, killed; and Eren tried not to grimace at Levi’s death drip on his elbow.

“Levi?”

“WHAT?” Levi recoiled.

“Calm down,” Eren smiled. “I’ll be fine.” Levi seemed to notice his death grip and loosened his hold, fingers sliding down Eren’s arm to lace their fingers together.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Jean,” Eren said, linking arms with his twin. “You need to calm down as well.”

“Says the man who got all riled up when you found out I was the one who’d stolen your tunic when you were sleeping on the job, back at the farm,” Jean glanced sideways at his brother, who turned beet red.

“That’s a very good reason to get all riled up, okay?” Eren said defensively. “Why wouldn’t I be angry you stole my tunic?”

“You deserved it,” Mikasa added. “Especially for sleeping on the job.”

“Argh!” Eren let out a noise of frustration.

“We’re here,” Levi said. In the valley below them stood Kenny, smirk on his face and army behind him.

“Well, well, WELL,” Kenny chuckled, shaking his head. “Look at this! You haven’t brought anyone with you? Very surprising, even for you, Little Levi!”

“I’m go-” Levi was about to charge but was stopped by Eren’s hand in his, forgetting that they were still holding hands.

“What was that? I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you!” Kenny said.

“Kenny,” Jean said, cutting Levi off. “What do you want with us?” Jean carefully approached Kenny, pulling Mikasa, Eren, and Levi after him.

“Well, can’t a father want his children?” Kenny pouted.

“Not when we don’t want you,” Eren said.

“Now I’m hurt,” Kenny sighed dramatically. “My initial idea was to lock you in the house and maybe test your abilities, but now I’m thinking full scale science experiments!”

“No fucking way!” Levi said, standing in front of Eren. Jean and Levi exchanged glances.

“Yes fucking way,” Kenny teased. He motioned to two soldiers nearby to grab them. “The sad part about you coming all this way here is that I didn’t even get to use my army! Oh well, there’s always next time.” He nodded to the soldiers to take them away.

Levi struggled, but found himself following anyways. This plan had better work.

SHUNK! The sound of a bow hitting it’s target.

The four turned around to see an arrow deep in Ackerman’s chest, straight into his heart. Jean smirked, looking up to the hill where Ymir had been hiding. She stood, making herself known. Ackerman dropped to the ground, gasping for breath until none could be heard.

At that moment, the troops instantly rushed in, completely surrounding Kenny’s army, forcing them to surrender and drop their weapons. Jean, Mikasa, Eren, and Levi were instantly freed.

“That was surprisingly easy,” Mikasa said.

“Told you so,” Jean sing-songed.

“It was almost too easy,” Levi commented. He crouched down to feel a pulse on Kenny’s neck.

“He’s dead?” Eren asked. The raven nodded. “Well...that just solved all our problems.”

“I knew my plan would work!” Jean crossed his arms over his chest, giving a smug look to Mikasa.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Yay! Jean! Look, your plan worked!” She rolled her eyes, voice heavy with sarcasm.

“Gee, thanks Mikasa,” Jean leveled a light glare. “Glad to know you think so highly of me, Jean, your own brother.”

“You know, we’re not even related,” Mikasa said, “right?” Jean swiveled around.

“I am done talking to you,” he said. “Let’s just get back to the palace, okay?”

“Jean!” Eren exclaimed, jumping on top of his brother. “It worked! Your plan worked!” Jean smirked at Mikasa.

“Thanks bro!” Jean exclaimed.

“Great going, horseface,” Ymir had appeared, slapping Jean upside the head.

The sound of metal slicing through flesh drew their attention. Levi stood over the decapitated Kenny Ackerman. When he looked up he shrugged.

“What?! I had to make sure he couldn’t do some creepy voodoo shit and come back to life!” He protested.

“Yeah, but was slicing his entire head off even necessary?!” Eren asked.

“I guess not, but…” Levi pouted.

Jean and Ymir exchanged glances before rolling their eyes.

“Ok ok, ladies,” Ymir said. “Break it up. Time to pack it up and move it out!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr btw, not that I use it for anything other than liking art...  
> foossoaffoof  
> hello's and hi's would be welcome tho


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOP  
> I lied, sorry, looks like you're getting three chapters today  
> HOWEVER  
> this is the FINAL chapter of this story, sad to say  
> but you can always re-read on and on as much as your little heart desires

EPILOGUE

Marco and Historia looked out from the balcony, watching the sun’s journey down. The sky lit up orange and pink, with hints of gold.

“I’m nervous,” Historia admitted. “What if they fail? What if Ymir and Jean never come back to us?”

“They will,” Marco said. “Regardless of whether or not they failed.”

“You have so much confidence,” the blonde sighed, resting her elbow on the railing. “How do you do it?”

“Before Jean left, I made him promise to return,” Marco said. “And I believe him.”

“That’s it? Just a promise?” Historia raised a brow at her husband.

“That’s all I ever need, really,” Marco said. “A genuine heart will keep it’s promise.”

“You sound like a philosopher,” the Queen said, teasing the Pharaoh.

“You tend to think about a lot of things when you have nothing to do,” Marco said. His eyes darted to the gates of the palace, willing them to open and Jean to march right through them. Historia chuckled, shifting her focus back to the gate as well.

“You know, I think you’re great at what you do,” Historia smiled.

“Thanks,” Marco smiled back. “You too. Keeping Ymir in check must be pretty hard sometimes.”

“Don’t I know it!” Historia laughed.

“Looks like you’re having a great time.” Marco and Historia jumped, turning around to find Jean and Ymir standing in the doorframe.

“When did you get back?” Marco asked.

“Just now,” Jean said.

“We snuck in through the back to surprise you,” Ymir said. “The others should be coming through the front gate right about now.” Marco glanced down at the gates, finding them opening and Eren and Levi walking through.

“Welcome back!” Historia smiled, giving Ymir a hug.

“Where’s my welcome home hug?” Jean pouted. Marco chuckled and opened his arms, wrapping them around Jean’s slim waist.

“Welcome home, Jean,” Marco said, kissing Jean on the nose.

“I love you, Marco,” Jean said, nestling his nose in the crook of Marco’s freckled neck.

“My love abounds no other, Jean!” Marco chuckled. “It is pure, like silver-no, gold!”

“You’re so sappy,” Jean pressed a kiss to Marco’s cheek.

“But it’s you who makes me like this,” Marco pouted. His lover laughed.

“Marco, I wasn’t complaining,” Jean smiled, cupping Marco’s face. He pressed a light kiss to the brunette’s lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out the awesome tumblr I share with my frand  
> foossoaffoof  
> same as the AO3 url!


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